It’s been less than six months since ZDNet reviewed the Lenovo Yoga 720, the then-latest version of its popular convertible laptop. But as highly thought of as that hybrid was, Lenovo is already back at MWC with an upgraded version.

Predictably dubbed the Yoga 730 series, the new notebooks include a couple of notable updates for 2018. This includes the use of Intel’s latest Core processors, graduating from 2017’s seventh-generation CPUs. In addition to a performance boost of up to 40 percent due to the new Kaby Lake chips, the 15-inch version is now 13 percent lighter. One spec that hasn’t been updated is the optional graphics card for that 15-inch model, which remains the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050.

Despite already being equipped with Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant as part of the Windows 10 operating system, the new Yoga 730 has been given an additional voice in the form of Amazon’s Alexa, Lenovo delineates their roles clearly in a blog post — Cortana is strictly business, while Alexa handles more entertaining tasks.

As with its 720 predecessor, the Yoga 730 comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, with pricing starting around $880 and $900, respectively, when they become available in April. In addition to pricier configurations with Core i7 processors instead of Core i5 and the GeForce GTX 1050 upgrade for the 15-inch edition, you can also get the optional Active Pen 2 stylus to write or draw directly on the screen via Windows Ink technology.

If that’s too rich for your blood, but you like the looks of the Yoga’s flexibility, Lenovo has you covered with the addition of the Flex 14 (known as the Yoga 530 outside the U.S.). It splits the difference between the two 730 models, coming only in a 14-inch size with a full HD touchscreen display (as opposed to the 730’s optional 4K screen). It lacks Alexa support and its discrete graphics option is the GeForce MX130, but it does feature eighth-generation Core chips like its more expensive brethren and like the 13-inch Yoga 730, its Rapid Charge technology can provide two hours of battery life from just 15 minutes of charging.

For those who can live without the niceties of the Yoga 730, the refreshed Flex 14 will also be available in April for a starting price around $600.

A little more than a year ago, Linux developers KDE and a Spanish hardware manufacturer joined forces to offer the KDE Slimbook, a 13.3-inch laptop running a Ubuntu-based OS with mid-range specs and a mid-range price. Now KDE is back with the Slimbook II, which, like many notebook sequels, is a little bit faster, a little bit thinner, and a little bit lighter than its predecessor.

The original Slimbook wasn’t a performance powerhouse, but it wasn’t a slouch, either. It used sixth-generation (a.k.a. Skylake) Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and offered up to 16 gigs of RAM, 500GB of solid-state storage, and a 1080p HD display. Its successor jumps to the seventh generation of Core i5 and i7 chips, which also results in a leap to DDR4 RAM, resulting in a moderate performance gain over the first Slimbook.

Other hardware upgrades include a 1TB SSD option, a more powerful Wi-Fi antenna, and a trackpad with improved tactile feedback. The Slimbook II is also about an ounce lighter and a tenth of an inch thinner than the 3-pound, 0.6-inch thick original Slimbook.

But the biggest advantage of the Slimbook II (as with its predecessor) is that the hardware meshes with the pre-installed Linux build, rather than a user taking a Windows machine and converting it to Linux. That means no driver installs and compatibility issues, among other potential headaches. KDE neon is built on the Ubuntu Linux flavor, and the Slimbook II includes KDE’s productivity apps such as Kontact (email and calendar), DigiKam (image processing), and Kdenlive (video editing).

Despite the open-source ethos of the Slimbook II, it’s not exactly a budget-friendly system. Like the original Slimbook, the new Core i5 edition is priced at 699 euros ($856), while the Core i7 model costs 799 euros ($978). But compared to Dell’s Ubuntu-powered XPS 13 Developer Edition, with a $1,400 starting price, it might seem like a bargain to a Linux laptop lover.

A new Bloomberg article is reporting that Apple plans to expand the number of Macs using its own co-processor chips this year, a move that could foretell a future where Intel is no longer inside Apple’s computers.

According to the report, Apple is looking to add one of its custom co-processing chips to a pair of MacBook laptops and a Mac desktop to be released later this year. They would join the existing MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and iMac Pro as being Mac systems with Apple-made co-processors. Of course, iPhones and iPads have used the company’s own chips for several years, and the Apple Watch has since its launch in 2015.

For now, Intel remains the provider of the main CPU for Macs, though Bloomberg claims that the recent security woes that have dogged that company’s chips may have provided Apple more ammunition to chart its own course for future Mac processors. Another report today claims Apple is slowing its roll-out of new iOS features in 2018 as it deals with reliability issues, so security — something the company has long touted compared to systems without its “walled garden” approach — is receiving greater attention in Cupertino.

Apple avoids some of the cost issues that other companies have had in the past building their own chips by outsourcing the manufacturing. Designing chips in-house also allows the company to tailor them to new features it’s developing. Abandoning its on-again off-again relationship with Intel would starve the chip maker of its fifth-largest client, according to Bloomberg.

Despite the increasing resources Apple is devoting to chip research and creation, it’s only built computer chips that complement Intel’s primary processor — the T1 co-processor handles the Touch Bar, while the T2 edition offloads some security and power management duties on the iMac Pro. It remains to be seen what a potential T3 co-processor will control, and there’s quite a leap from a chip working on a few tasks to ones that have to power the entire system, potentially including graphics processing to boot.

If Apple decides in the future to produce its own CPUs for Macs, it could drive a great debate among its fanboys. Would Macs (and their users) be better served by Intel, whose high-performance chips have been undermined by security holes, or by Apple, whose chips would be untested in laptops and desktops but could maximize the potential of the Mac OS? It seems unlikely we’ll find out in 2018, but another year of behind-the-scenes work by Apple could make for a very interesting 2019.

The device that Microsoft introduced is the 300e, a 2-in-1 system that includes pen support for the Windows version. However, Lenovo is also offering the 300e in a Chromebook edition for the same $279 starting price. The Chrome-running version lacks pen support and relies on a MediaTek MTK 8173C processor instead of the Intel Apollo Lake CPUs that the Windows 300e will ship with.

Lenovo has an even cheaper option in the 100e, which has a traditional clam-shell design, an Intel Celeron N3350 processor, and a $219 price point whether you choose the Windows or Chromebook flavor. The 500e is a Chromebook-only 2-in-1 that features a Gorilla Glass screen, pen support with an integrated compartment to store the stylus, and up to 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, albeit with a higher starting price of $349.

Rounding out Lenovo’s new offerings are pricier Windows laptops with more familiar names. The latest versions of the ThinkPad 11e and 11e Yoga are thinner and lighter and pack greater battery life than their predecessors. They also include Intel’s latest N processors, and the Yoga convertible comes with a pen and integrated compartment like the 500e. To handle the drops and spills children may expose the systems to, both have been built to MIL-SPEC standards for rugged construction.

The ThinkPad 11e and 11e Yoga will be available next month starting at $429 and $499, respectively. The Windows editions of the 100e and 300e ship this month, while the Chrome 100e will ship in March and the 300e Chromebook in February. The Chromebook 500e is available this month as well.

Razer isn’t afraid to float some interesting product ideas around CES each year. Over the past few years, the gaming hardware company has offered up such concepts as Project Christine, a modular desktop PC, and Project Fiona, a Windows 8 gaming tablet.

This year is no exception, though 2018’s moonshot seems a little more practical. Project Linda actually takes an idea that’s been previously developed — pairing a smartphone with a shell of a laptop to serve essentially as a dock — by companies big (from Motorola back in 2011 to HP last year) and small (crowdfunded campaigns like the Superbook and the Mirabook), though it gives it the flair that Razer is known for.

Like HP’s Elite x3, Project Linda has more style than just a laptop shell. For instance, the aluminum-clad chassis features a 13.3-inch “Quad HD” (2560 x 1440) display compared to the Elite x3’s 12.5-inch 1,920×1,080 screen. It would also come with 200GB of built-in storage to supplement smartphone storage, which other phone docks usually don’t include.

Something else that other docks don’t provide that Project Linda does is a docking area carved out of the space where a touchpad typically goes. That’s because it’s specifically designed to work with the recently released Razer Phone, the company’s high-end Android smartphone that can either serve as a touchpad or an auxiliary screen when connected to the dock.

The dock has the ability to charge the Razer Phone while it’s connected, and the keyboard has Android-specific keys for loading apps and navigating the OS. As you might expect, Razer is touting Project Linda’s ability to enhance the Android gaming experience with the larger playing screen and the ability to use a mouse to control games, though the result probably wouldn’t be as immersive as the company’s more powerful and Windows-based Razer Blade family of gaming laptops.

As with its other projects, Razer is seeking community feedback on Project Linda before it decides whether to bring the product to actual fruition. So while there’s obviously no pricing or release date for the docking system, this concept may have a better chance of coming to market as it supports an existing device in the Razer Phone and probably won’t be extravagantly expensive since it doesn’t have an expensive processor and graphics card inside. Stay tuned and we’ll report if Project Linda ever sees the light of day.

The ever-maturing PC industry hasn’t deterred manufacturers large and small from embracing crowdfunding as a method of bringing new systems to market, whether they need the funds to produce their new product, or just want to gain publicity and guarantee some upfront sales. Not every launch on Kickstarter or one of its rivals is a roaring success, but enough are to keep the campaigns coming.

It was no different in 2017, as several companies offered new devices for crowdfunding, although some of them were clearly drawing inspiration from the past. That includes the Gemini, which answers the question: What would a PDA look like in a world filled with smartphones that have essentially replaced it? That answer is a clam-shell handheld with a physical keyboard, 5.99-inch screen, and Android and Linux dual-boot capability (along with built-in Wi-Fi and 4G option to keep up with the times).

As unlikely as you might think such a device would be attractive in a world of iPhones, tablets, Chromebooks, and other portables, the company behind the Gemini, UK startup Planet Computers, easily surpassed its campaign target on IndieGogo, raising over $1.1 million. If you want to see how the Gemini matches up with one of its inspirations, the 20-year-old Psion Series 5 PDA, check out ZDNet’s Sandra Vogel comparison from last month.

Another tiny computer, the GPD Pocket, doesn’t look all that different from the Gemini, though it doesn’t try to market itself specifically as a PDA. Instead, parent company GamePad Digital (or GPD) defines it as a 7-inch Windows laptop, complete with 8GB of RAM, 128GB solid-state drive, and full HD touchscreen. Like the Gemini, the Pocket ran its campaign on Indiegogo, and also like the Gemini, the Pocket blasted through its target fundraising goal, cashing in to the tune of more than $3.5 million.

While not as successful as the Gemini and the Pocket, French firm Miraxess doubled its campaign goal (again, on Indiegogo) for the Mirabook, which takes your smartphone out of your pocket and places it in a dock that turns it into a laptop. It’s not the first, or the most successful, crowdfunded smartphone dock, but the Mirabook will offer a bigger display and claims higher battery life than the cheaper Sentio Superbook that earned more than $3 million on Kickstarter last year. The Mirabook is about to go into beta, and will have a presence at the upcoming CES, so we’ll see if they can ride that momentum through to a final shipping product.

Actually getting a product into the hands of backers isn’t always a guarantee with crowdfunded campaigns, and there have been some notable vaporware disasters that have burned customers over the years. Even if companies can produce a shipping device, there can be delays or limited supplies that can hamper future growth. One example of being a victim of its own crowdfunded success is Purism, a new laptop maker that raised $2.5 million for its privacy-focused Linux notebooks, the Librem 13 and 15. Its original batches were made to order, which required buyers to patiently wait for their systems to arrive, but 2017 saw Purism being able to stock up on inventory to slice the wait time for a Librem from months to weeks.

Then there’s Tanoshi, which launched a Kickstarter campaign in September for a kid-friendly 2-in-1 Android laptop. By the middle of October, the campaign had raised less than 20 percent of its $50,000 goal and was canceled. That wasn’t the end for the company, however, as its crew of Silicon Valley vets managed to carry on and place an order for its systems anyway, which it’s currently pre-selling through its site.

The Tanoshi experience highlights one of the changes in crowdfunding over the years. Once the vast majority of campaigns required financial backers because the inventors didn’t have access to money to produce , now there are many campaigns that established companies run just as an additional funding source and marketing tactic.

Such is the case with Chuwi, a Chinese PC maker that has turned to Indiegogo to crowdfund laptops, despite being in existence for over a decade. Then again, it’s hard to argue with the success of its SurBook, a budget clone of Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet. It has raised over $1 million since launching its Indiegogo campaign, raising awareness in the U.S. that it probably couldn’t have managed through more conventional means.

Finally, a highly anticipated crowdfunding campaign didn’t wind up materializing in 2017. The resurrected Atari brand announced with great fanfare that it would be accepting preorders of its new Ataribox living room device, which combines retro console gaming with a Linux-based PC, via Indiegogo starting on December 14. However, the campaign was a no-show on that date, with the company blaming an unspecified snafu for the delay. Atari promises an updated launch plan soon, but the incident highlights the risks inherent with hitching your PC launch to a crowdfunding campaign. Expect more of the same — smashing successes and puzzling stumbles — in the year to come.

Have you played Atari today? Once a jingle’s catchphrase as well as a legitimate query, a resurrected version of the brand is hoping you’ll soon be asking that question again with the forthcoming Ataribox.

Available to pre-order on Thursday for a special price via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the Ataribox is shaping up to be an amalgam of retro gaming console and living room PC. Details are mostly sketchy at this point, but we do know that it will be powered by some variant of Linux OS and will include over 100 Atari classic games pre-installed.

Unfortunately, for retro gaming fans, the full list of games isn’t known yet, nor do we know other key information like the Ataribox’s shipping date or its pricing (though VentureBeat reports it will sell somewhere between $250 and $300). Atari Interactive has been leaking dribs and drabs through social media, such as the inclusion of titles like Asteroids, Missile Command, and Breakout.

The company has updated the design for its console while retaining touches from the vintage 2600 — in addition to an option with black trim and red glowing Atari logo, you can get the Ataribox with the faux wood trim of the original. The joystick also resembles the 2600’s, but with a revamped look that’s more 2017 than 1980.

But by choosing to build the Ataribox as a Linux-running mini PC, Atari is giving itself the opportunity to stay current with new games, unlike many of the plug-and-play retro consoles. Though we don’t know the precise configuration, we’ve been promised a system with a AMD processor customized for the console and the ability to play mid-range games.

Will the Ataribox be a hit like Nintendo’s SNES Classic mini was? Or will it fizzle out like many other living room PCs that came before it, despite the retro trappings? The price will clearly be an issue — even if it’s technically a PC, it could winding up costing as much as some versions of the Xbox One or PlayStation 4, not to mention that many potential buyers would only want it to play the old Atari games. We’ll get a better idea starting on December 14, as the Indiegogo campaign kicks off and Atari will see how just many people will rush to open their wallets to grab an Ataribox.

As the biggest online retailer in the known universe, no one is more equipped to handle Cyber Monday than Amazon. Among all of the deals it will be touting today, including sales on its own Fire tablets, the shopping Goliath has a number of specials for those looking to buy a new computer.

Front and center in its deals of the day, Amazon is discounting a quartet of Chromebooks, including the Acer CB3-131-CESZ with Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and 11.6-inch display for just $99.99. You can double the RAM with the CB3-131-C8SZ for $30 more, or upgrade to one of two convertible Chromebooks: The Acer Chromebook R 13 runs on a MediaTek processor, and includes 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and 13.3-inch full HD touchscreen for $289.99, while the Asus Flip C302 features an Intel Core m3 CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, 64GB of storage, and 12.5-inch touchscreen for $386.99.

Those looking for a deal on Apple’s MacBook will also find savings at Amazon today. Like Best Buy, the retailer is chopping the price of MacBook Pro laptops, in this case a significant discount on a 13-inch configuration with 3.3GHz Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB solid-state drive for $1,984, or $315 less than Apple’s own price. Another deal of the day is on a previous generation 12-inch MacBook; if you can live with an older Intel Core m5-6Y54 CPU, you still get 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD for $999.99, compared to $1,209 from the refurbished section of Apple’s online store.

In addition to continued savings on many of its Black Friday deals, Amazon has other Windows PCs on sale for Cyber Monday. If you act quickly, you can grab a choice of Dell Inspiron notebook — either the 15 3000 2-in-1 with eighth-generation Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and 13.3-inch touchscreen for $629.99, or a gaming configuration with Core i7- 7700HQ, 8 gigs of RAM, terabyte hard drive and 128GB SSD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics, and 15.6-inch full HD display for $699.99.

Also on the clock as a limited-supply deal is the Asus ZenBook 3 for $999, which packages a Core i7-7500U CPU, 16GB of memory, and 512GB SSD into a 2-pound chassis with 12.5-inch display. Another Asus special is the Gaming G11CD-DB52 desktop with Core i5-6400, 8GB of RAM, terabyte hard drive, and GeForce GTX 950 graphics for $649, $150 off.

Amazon has two different Lenovo Flex 2-in-1 laptops on sale, depending on what you value more. For $599.99, the Flex 5 has a bigger screen (15.6-inch vs. 14-inch), but for $699 you can get a Flex 4 with a more powerful processor (Core i7 vs. Core i5), along with AMD Radeon R5 M430 graphics. Finally, gamers might appreciate the deal on the MSI GL62M gaming laptop, which offers i7-7700HQ, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and 128GB SSD, GeForce GTX 1050Ti, and 15.6-inch full HD display for $899.99, or almost $200 off.

The combined Office Depot and OfficeMax chain may still have plenty of brick-and-mortar locations left, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t ready to participate in Cyber Monday festivities, which it’s already kicked off. Just as with its Black Friday approach, the office superstore is focusing more on mid-range PCs rather than compete with the Walmarts of the world for the lowest prices.

In fact Office Depot/OfficeMax only has one Cyber Monday computer deal for under $200 in its ad, in the form of a HP Chromebook Chromebook 14-ak040nr with Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 14-inch screen for $180. A quick look on OfficeDepot.com, however, shows three other laptops under that price threshold: a pair of Chromebooks including an 11.6-inch HP for $169.99 and the HP 14-am052nr 14-inch Windows notebook for $167.99 instead of its regular $299.99 price.

Mostly, the Office Depot/OfficeMax ad is filled with laptops in the $300-$800 range, such as an HP 15-bs190od with eighth-generation Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and 15.6-inch touchscreen for $369.99 on Sunday and Monday only. Other portable deals include a similar HP touchscreen model but with Core i3 CPU and 8GB of RAM for $389.99, a Dell Inspiron 15 with Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive for $449.99 ($200 off), and a Lenovo IdeaPad 320 with Core i5, 8 gigs of RAM, terabyte hard drive, and 17.3-inch display for $449.99.

There are also several convertible laptops on sale if you prefer the convenience of a 2-in-1 device. You can pick between a pair of Dell Inspiron 13.3-inch hybrids — one with Core i3, 4GB of memory, and 1TB hard drive for $449.99, the other with Core i5, twice the RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive for $599.99. If you want a little more screen size, there’s either a 15.6-inch HP Pavilion with Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and terabyte hard drive that’s bundled with wireless mouse and an year’s subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal for $599.99, or a 15.6-inch Dell Inspiron with Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive for $699.99.

The Office Depot/OfficeMax Cyber Monday ad is also notable for its quartet of 23.8-inch all-in-one PCs, starting at $499.99 and going up in $100 increments. They start with a HP with full HD touchscreen, AMD A8 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive, then for $599.99 you can grab a Lenovo with the same specs except for an A9 processor instead. For $699.99, there’s an HP Pavilion with A12 processor, or if you want Intel inside instead, there’s a Dell Inspiron 3464 with Core i7 CPU and 12 gigs of RAM for $799.99.

Finally, there are four desktop tower deal in the ad, from as low as $269.99 for an HP slim desktop with Intel Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, and a terabyte hard drive. Next up is a Dell Inspiron full tower with Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive for $379.99, or a different Inspiron configuration with Core i5 and 12 gigs of RAM for $499.99. If you need even more power, an HP Pavilion with Core i7 and Nvidia GeForce GT 730 graphics card will be available for $699.99.

Dell is traditionally the first tech retailer to release its Black Friday ad, but as an online seller of its computers, it’s embraced Cyber Monday with equal verve, offering a 12-page ad with plenty of deals on its laptops and desktops.

While some of its sales will be available for the duration of Dell’s event, starting Sunday and going through Tuesday, others will be virtual “doorbusters” available at select times on Cyber Monday itself. These include the lowest-priced systems Dell will be offering, such as the Inspiron 14 3000 (Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage) that’s available at 11 a.m. on Cyber Monday for just $129.99, and an Inspiron 15 3000 2 p.m. doorbuster with Celeron CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, and 500GB hard drive for $199.99.

There are plenty of other deals if you don’t want to be chained to a computer at a particular time on Monday, like the Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 with Intel Pentium processor, 4GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, and 11.6-inch touchscreen for $329.99 or the Inspiron 15 5000 laptop with eighth-generation Core i5, 8 gigs of RAM, terabyte hard drive, and 15.6-inch full HD display for $579.99. If you’d prefer a desktop, there’s an Inspiron tower with Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive for $329.99, or an XPS tower with Core i7 chip, 8 gigs of RAM, terabyte hard drive with 16GB of Intel Optane memory, and AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card for $899.99.